Alessandro Birindelli.

© Getty Images

Melbourne Victory star striker Archie Thompson is looking to get his Socceroos aspirations back on track with an impressive performance against Italian giant Juventus at Telstra Dome this Friday.

Thompson, who missed three AFC Champions League matches with a knee injury, is set to make his second appearance in as many weeks in one of the biggest friendlies in the history of Australian football.

“The match has a lot of meaning for all of the Victory players,” Thompson said.

“It’s not everyday that Juventus comes to Australia, so it’s exciting for us, it’s exciting for our supporters and exciting for football in Australia.”

Thompson is likely to play 45 minutes against Juventus and is determined to earn a place in the Socceroos side that will compete in a host of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches this month.

“Obviously there’s a lot for me in this game because I want to show that the knee is progressing well.

“There are qualifiers this month and I desperately want to be a part of that.

“With the treatment I’ve been getting, it’s getting stronger every training session, so I’m looking forward to hopefully running a couple of rings around some Juventus players.”

Rodrigo Vargas and Danny Allsopp, who are currently with the Socceroos ahead of Australia’s match against Iraq this Sunday, could also return to Victory’s starting 11 if they’re available.

“I just spoke an hour ago with Pim Verbeek regarding the Iraq game and Rodrigo Vargas and Danny Allsopp,” Victory Coach Ernie Merrick said.

“He’ll have a clearer picture after the second session today, so this evening we’ll know if either of those players will be available.”

Juventus defender Alessandro Birindelli added that the Italian side is looking to produce an entertaining spectacle in front of what is expected to be a massive crowd.

“For us, this game is predominantly to thank our Australian fans,” Birindelli said.

“We’ll try to achieve a high-level game and even though we’re missing several important players, the players we do have on our team will do their best to thank the Australian fans for their support.”

The match will be broadcast live and exclusively in Australia on Fox Sports 1 from 7:30pm AEST, with coverage also extending to 99 countries through 24 networks.

Tickets for the match are available from any Ticketmaster outlet, by calling 136 100, by logging on to ticketmaster.com.au or at the gate.

Melbourne Victory v Juventus
Friday, 30 May 2008
Kick off 8pm AEST
Telstra Dome, Melbourne

Melbourne Victory: 1.Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (Captain), 4.Steven PACE, 6.Steve PANTELDIS, 7.Matthew KEMP, 8.Grant BREBNER, 9.Daniel ALLSOPP, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 11.Joseph KEENAN, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13.Kaz PATAFTA, 14.Adrian CACERES, 15.Leandro LOVE, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ, 17.Daniel VASILEVSKI, 18.Leigh BROXHAM, 19.Evan BERGER, 21.Sebastian RYALL, 22.Nick WARD, 23.Nathan ELASI, 24.Billy CELESKI, 25.Tom PONDELJAK, 30.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk)

Juventus: 2.Alessandro BIRINDELLI, 5.Jonathan ZEBINA, 6.Cristiano ZANETTI, 12.Gianmarco FIORY, 13.Jess VANSTRATTAN, 20.Raffaele PALLADINO, 25.Guglielmo STENDARDO, 27.Michele PAOLUCCI, 28.Cristian MOLINARO, 29.Andrea ROSSI, 30.TIAGO Cardoso Mendes, 31.Cristiano NOVEMBRE, 32.Marco MARCHIONNI, 33.Nicola LEGROTTAGLIE, 34.Cristian PASQUATO, 36.Luca CASTIGLIA

Tickets: Available from Ticketmaster (136 100 or ticketmaster.com.au) or at the gate

TV: Live and exclusive on Fox Sports 1 (broadcast commences 7:30pm AEST)